Colin Firth Ready To Sign Up For Millar And Vaughn's Secret Service, Aaron Johnson Not

Using just the same model that brought us Kick-Ass, Matthew Vaughn has co-written an adaptation of Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons‘ The Secret Service with Jane Goldman, is funding the project independently, and will set about shooting the thing this Summer and Autumn.

The basic premise of the comic was George Bernard Shaw by way of Ian Fleming – or, as Millar put it himself:

The world’s greatest secret agent is on the most exciting case of his career. But will the end of the world as know it take a back seat to training his street-punk nephew to be the next James Bond?

Vaughn wanted to reunite with Aaron Johnson and cast him as the nephew, but The Hollywood Reporter say that’s not working out. Vaughn does look set to get his first-choice for the secret agent uncle, though, with Colin Firth currently negotiating his contract. Perfect choice, really. Nobody else quite has the right amount of Henry Higgins in them.

This isn’t the first bit of casting, mind you, as Mark Hamill seems set to appear as himself - well, pending a scheduling clash with the new Star Wars, I suppose, but I’m sure they’d be able to figure that out. I’d guess that he’s unlikely to have many days on either.

I sort of want the Brocollis to regret never hiring me. I was very keen to direct Bond. I don’t know if I am any more, to be blunt, now that I’ve done [X-Men: Firs Class]. I really love Daniel [Craig], though you know, it might be interesting if they one day decide to cast Fassbender as Bond, then maybe I’ll go “Hey!”

I don’t know if they’ll actually come to regret not hiring Vaughn but I do expect, much as James Cameron did with True Lies, he’ll be able to show them a trick or two with The Secret Service.

While the film will be independently produced, as I said, Warner Bros. have already signed on to distribute it in the States next November.